


Triptych- Past

by LoveChilde



Category: Da Vinci's Demons
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Bathing/Washing, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, F/M, Falling In Love, Pregnancy, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-03-11
Packaged: 2018-01-15 10:17:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1301290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveChilde/pseuds/LoveChilde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unexpectedly, unintentionally, Lorenzo D'Medici found he was in love with, of all people, his wife. This is how.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Triptych- Past

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Umbralpilot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Umbralpilot/gifts).



They weren't supposed to fall in love. Love was not required, among the nobles, only profit and utility. The Medicis were rising in strength and wealth, and marrying into the venerable, well-established Orsinis made business-sense. It helped of course that Clarice was beautiful, intelligent and personable, but in truth, Lorenzo never expected he'd love her. The most he could realistically expect, after all, was a pleasant companion who would not try to advance herself against his interest.

It was quite unexpected, really, that they fell in love. Lorenzo has no idea just when it happened. He thinks it was probably sometime before the birth of their first daughter, with Clarice glowing and heavy with pregnancy. He'd never expected that Clarice would become even more beautiful in pregnancy, and even more attractive to him as a person. It was not an easy pregnancy; she grew heavier, her ankles ached, and she wanted the strangest things to eat. Lorenzo found himself concerned with finding a way to help ease her load. 

"Why don't we go to the baths?" He suggested one day, maybe a month before Clarice's confinement. He knew that soon he would not see her for a month or more, until the birth, and would not be able to touch her for a month or more after it as well, until she was churched and purified. Lorenzo himself didn't give a fig for that sort of religious nonsense, but Clarice was rather more observant than he was, and cared for such niceties. Now, she gave him an odd look.

"The baths?"

"Yes The water might ease your ankles, make you feel lighter for a while. You could rest." Some might accuse him of having improper intentions, but she was his wife, which made it all proper. "Please? I think you'll like it."

They had never bathed together before. Even in permissive Florence, such things were not done. But if the lord of the city wished to be alone with his wife in the baths, in full daylight, who would refuse him? Not even his wife, as it turned out. 

They went down to the baths together in the dappled June sunlight. Lorenzo dismissed the servants, ignoring their questioning looks. "This is just for us, Clarice. A chance to be together, us two, before we become three." 

Still she hesitated. 

"Let me care for you, my wife. You carry a precious gift, let me show it the honor it deserves." 

That seemed to settle her mind on the subject. Slow and gentle, he unlaced her gown, removed her sleeves and loosened the drawstring of her chemise . He watched from behind as fabric fell to the floor until she was bare before him. When he walked around to face her, she smiled, beatific.

"Husband, you are overdressed."

She touched him then, just as gentle, unlacing points and drawing fabric smoothly down, and soon he was bare as a babe, before her. For the first time, they saw each other in full light, naked, as God made them, and for a dazed moment, Lorenzo wondered where the snake was. 

"Our private Eden."

"With the sword over the door, and snakes outside." She agreed, and he lead her down to the warm scented water that waited for them. 

She allowed him to wash her hair, which took a surprisingly long while (he'd never realized that her hair, unbound and wet, went down well past her shapely buttocks), and she in turn, laughing, ran her fingers through his hair, cropped short. 

He knew that sex was out of the question, given Clarice's condition, but it was sensual enough, simply looking, and touching, with warm water and slippery scented soap between them. Bare skin on skin, in full daylight, looking and touching freely, and Clarice didn’t flinch when he hardened, looking at her. Instead, with a small, secretive smile, she took him in her hand. 

“You know, I have never seen...how it looks. It does usually happen where I can’t see.” A faint blush rose in her cheeks, caused by more than just warm water, and Lorenzo knew he was blushing as well, to be so boldly manhandled by his wife. A whore, he would expect it of, but a noble lady? Never. Her boldness set his blood rushing in his veins, and he sat back and let her inspect him, slide her hands up and down his shaft, nimble fingers tangling in the short hair there, as well. She was clearly fascinated, and Lorenzo, though slightly embarrassed, found that he enjoyed being the object of her fascination. 

“Careful- I’m about to- Clarice!” He raised himself from the bath, arching back as he erupted in her hand. Most of it landed on his chest, and Clarice bounced back, surprised. 

“Oh- Oh, my Lord, did I hurt you?” Her eyes twinkled with impish joy, and she was back at his side by the time he recovered breath and wits. 

“Not at all, my Lady wife. Only surprised me. Pleasantly, I might add.” He grinned at her, and she grinned back, children who had just discovered that the big kitchen jar held candy. “Come here, though. I may have made the water somewhat filthy.”

They sat on the edge of the bath, wrapped in linen towels, and for the first time since their marriage day they talked, really talked, and he found she was as well-read as he was, and had some fascinating ideas about what she'd read. For a short while they were sinfully, selfishly happy.

Afterwards, Lorenzo found that he now appreciated his wife in a whole new way, as a person, rather than an alliance; an attractive, thinking, interesting person. He found that he hoped she thought the same of him. He took to asking her advice more often, and coming into her bedroom more often as well, after she had given birth. In truth, he thought, from that moment in the baths, he loved her.

Clarice, of course, disagreed. Discreetly. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This turned porny on me entirely without my directing it there. Totally not my fault.


End file.
